A Warchief is Pulled Out of Retirement in a New Cinematic

It used to be that the high-rez cinematics fro World of Warcraft would come out only every two years with the expansions' launches. We got a very brief teaser before the full Legion one, with Gul'dan discovering Illidan's preserved body in the Vault of the Wardens, but Legion was mainly exciting for giving us multiple pre-rendered but still in-game style cutscenes, ending each major raid (Cataclysm technically had a couple of these, but all within the final raid.)

But with BFA, we've followed Saurfang's story in a number of these, between his resignation before the Battle of Lordaeron to his release from the Stormwind Stockades, to now, his journey to a land we left behind a while ago, with a former Warchief who has (like his creator and voice actor) been sitting things out in a well-earned (and slightly shameful - for Thrall, not Chris Metzen) retirement.

In sort of classic 80s action-movie style, Thrall's done with that life. He's been living on a farm in Nagrand (our universe's version of it,) a simple, modest life of harvesting wheat. We see him sharpening a blade at one point, but it's not a weapon of war - it's a scythe, you know, for harvesting wheat.

Thrall is simultaneously glad to see an old friend, but also wary of what such a visit portends. He has a family now, and really doesn't want to put them at risk. He left all this behind and does not want to play that savior role anymore. He's basically ready to turn down Saurfang when, all of a sudden, a pair of Undead Rogues attack.

It's actually kind of exciting to see rogues rendered in a cinematic like this - their stealth ability is portrayed as true invisibility, rather than a kind of metaphor for sneakiness. As someone who has played a rogue - and an Undead one - for over a decade, it was pretty cool (though character-wise, my dude is way too much of an individualist to still be loyal to Sylvanas. The whole point of being Forsaken was free will, right?)

Thrall and Saurfang fight off the two assassins, and when the mask is pulled back, it's clear that they are Forsaken. Thrall is furious that Saurfang's presence has led them to his family, putting all their lives in danger - but Saurfang corrects him, saying that he followed them there, not the other way around.

Which means that Sylvanas tried to have Thrall killed. This, despite the fact that Thrall had very explicitly made the decision to sit out the current conflict. Why? Did she sense that Thrall would be a threat to her legitimacy?

After all, Thrall really only made one truly terrible decision while Warchief, which was choosing a horrible successor. While some have argued that it's really just how it was represented, it even seemed like when he was in charge, the Forsaken were less out-and-out evil (though that also might have been because their hatred was focused on the Scourge.) Thrall represented a new, progressive vision for the Horde, which recast them as heroes.

And given Sylvanas is worrying most of the Horde's old guard with the direction she's taking, nostalgia for Thrall could be a very powerful force to give a rebellion someone to rally around - and indeed, someone whose legitimacy as a potential Warchief does, actually, rival her own. Baine couldn't stand up to her without being punished because ultimately, she was the authority. Thrall might have given up his claim to power, but what he relinquished voluntarily is also something he might reclaim with plenty of support of the people.

Basically, if Sylvanas orders Thrall arrested, Thrall would have a decent chance of looking at the guards she just ordered and succeed in ordering them to stand down instead.

Now, naturally, the very fact that she sent assassins to have him killed means he's more likely to join the fight.

This could be really bad for Sylvanas.

But we could also entertain other possibilities. Maybe this was intentional. We don't really know what Sylvanas' end goals are here. She could be luring Thrall out - though I don't really see how that would be better than just having him killed, except maybe to demoralize the Horde. Another possibility is that it's not, actually, Sylvanas who sent those assassins.

Now granted, Sylvanas has been going full-villain this expansion, so if we see Forsaken assassins doing something, we can assume it's under her orders no matter who evil. But maybe this is actually some kind of N'zoth stuff?

I really have to believe that N'zoth has been pushing for this war between the factions - it's very on-brand. But while we know he's a big part of the expansion (and most likely its final boss) we still don't know quite what he's trying to accomplish, and to what extent he is using Sylvanas, if at all.

Anyway, Saurfang's cinematic journey has been cool, and I hope we get more of this kind of thing moving forward.